By Henry Barnes
At the Christmas Conference of 1923, Rudolf Steiner proposed that the Anthroposophical Society take a courageous, far-reaching step. He suggested that the Society should throw off every vestige of sectarianism and establish itself as an absolutely open, public society. Any human being would be welcome to join this Society who recognized that spiritual science, grounded in anthroposophy, was a valid contribution to our time. Membership in this society would require no adherence to any philosophical, scientific, artistic, or religious principles. It would be "an association of people whose will it is to nurture the life of the soul, both in the individual and in human society, on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world." 1
In addition, at the heart of this public society, an institution would be established that was intended to be an esoteric school, a "university" based on spiritual-scientific knowledge and research. The education offered in this school, and the research it was to develop, would be subject to the same rigorous discipline that governs every objective search for knowledge. But, as already stated, its methods are grounded in spiritual science rather than in the natural sciences as we have come to know them today.
In its structure, the School of Spiritual Science resembles the traditional universities of earlier times. The student enters a general course of study—similar to a liberal arts faculty or school in a traditional university—in which she or he seeks to attain the capacities of spiritual-scientific cognition described in the works of Rudolf Steiner. Fundamental to these capacities is a clear and activite thinking capable of grasping ideas derived from supersensible observation, that is, from a clear and accurate view into the spiritual world. Such clear thinking can lead, step by step, to cognition that is no longer dependent on the physical organism. Body-free thought can then be enhanced through consistent spiritual-scientific practice to three stages of higher cognition, described by Rudolf Steiner in How to Know Higher Worlds: A Modern Path of Initiation 2 and other writings as imagination, inspiration, and intuition. Each of these stages leads the student to a new level of experience of supersensible, or spiritual reality.
This preliminary course of study is known as the General Anthroposophical Section of the School of Spiritual Science, which Rudolf Steiner intended to consist of three esoteric classes. Unfortunately, due to Rudolf Steiner’s illness and subsequent death on March 30, 1925, he was only able to inaugurate the first of these three classes. The basic nineteen lessons of the first class were held by Rudolf Steiner from February 15 to August 2, 1924, in Dornach, Switzerland. After a lecture series in England in September 1924, he had hoped to present the second part of the first class. This would have been followed by a third part, then by the institution of a second class and, eventually, a third class.
The cognitive capacities achieved through spiritual-scientific training in the three classes of the General Section would enable the student to fructify the branch of cultural and vocational practice in which she or he is engaged. Thus the artist, scientist, teacher, physician, or practitioner of any occupation could call on the capacities awakened and exercised as a student in the classes of the School and thus enliven and deepen his or her work in a given profession or vocation. The opportunity to cultivate these vocational insights and skills might then be developed in collegial work within a particular section of the School, just as the student in a traditional university, having achieved the basic skills of scholarship in a liberal arts faculty, could enter a medical, legal, pedagogical, or other graduate school for further specialized training.
In this way, Rudolf Steiner conceived of a circle of cultural, vocationally-oriented sections surrounding a human-centered, developmental, anthroposophical, and spiritual-scientific core. The method by which he called these special sections into existence was, in itself, also fundamentally human, rather than theoretical or bureaucratic. He did not proceed by deciding that a medical or an educational section was needed and then set out to search for a qualified individual to lead the endeavor. On the contrary, he first recognized that such an individual was already present and had proven herself or himself capable, creative, and reliable in a particular field. As a result of this recognition, he saw that a section, or division of the School, could be established because the qualified person was already there. Having already worked closely with Ita Wegman, MD, in the medical field, for example, he felt he could establish the medical section under her leadership.
In this way, during the Christmas Foundation Meeting of 1923, and in the weeks and months that followed, Rudolf Steiner was able to bring the School of Spiritual Science into existence with specialized sections surrounding the central developmental core. Anthroposophy, or the methods of Spiritual Science, were to provide the creative, transformative energies that could enliven the School as a whole.
In this way it was intended that the School of Spiritual Science should be the sustaining heart of the community of individuals who would come together in the General Anthroposophical Society to create a home for Anthroposophia, the spiritual being whose help is so urgently needed today.
How can one become a member of the School and how does the School fulfill its function within the General Anthroposophical Society at the present time?
If, after a period of time as a member of the Anthroposophical Society—usually two years or more—the individual comes to feel that she or he wishes not only to receive the insights of Spiritual Science, but also to represent anthroposophy in some way, this signals a new relationship of the individual to anthroposophy and to the Anthroposophical Society. One has been a "quiet," receiving member, who is now ready and willing to become "active" on behalf of the anthroposophical movement and the Society. The readiness to represent anthroposophy—in no matter how modest or quiet a way—is the indication that the moment has come for the individual to consider becoming an active member—a student—in the School, joining the work of the first class.
The individual at such a point should ask herself or himself several questions. Do I have a clear understanding of how Rudolf Steiner characterizes the Society and the School? (His essays and letters to the members following the Christmas meeting of 1923 are a primary help in gaining this clarity. 3 Do I have enough experience in meditation to be confident that I can sustain a meditative relationship with the esoteric material of the class? Am I able and willing to work with my sisters and brothers, as members of the School, independent of personal sympathies and antipathies? Am I, in other words, ready to put my own karmic house in order and strive for objectivity and a genuine openness toward those with whom I am joining? These self-directed questions are summed up in this basic question: Am I ready, able, and willing to represent anthroposophy in an undogmatic, unsectarian, honest, and unambiguous way? And, beyond this, am I prepared to share through my own work and experience in the task of research, even though I may be far from having achieved supersensible perception?
If one answers these questions with an honestly positive confidence that one is ready to become an active member, the next step is to seek out a representative of the School and discuss the matter openly. If you do not know an authorized representative of the School, the Society’s national office staff can give you the name of a qualified individual. If you find yourself confirmed in your sense that joining the School is the right step for you at this time and the reporesentative of the School with whom you have spoken also supports and confirms your intention, the next step is simple. You write a letter, addressed to the Chairman of the Executive Council at the Goetheanum in Dornach, stating how long you have been a member of the Society, your immediate life situation, and your reasons for wishing to enter the School. You then give this letter to the authorized representative with whom you have spoken, and she or he will forward your letter to Dornach with an endorsement based on the personal relationship that has been achieved between you. The final decision rests with the Executive Council. Assuming your application is accepted, a membership card in the School and the first class is then issued by the Goetheanum.
As a member of the School, you are then eligible to join a Section in whose work you are actively involved. The different Sections have somewhat different procedures for joining, and again the Society’s office can help identify a Section representative whom you can consult. The sections represented in North America have recently come together as a working group, known as the Collegium. The current sections and their respective leaders in North America are listed below. Also included is a list of the sections and their leaders at the Goetheanum in Dornach.
Collegium of North America and General Anthroposophical Society Section Leaders